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The Pacific
' '''The Pacific' is a 10-part miniseries produced by HBO, DreamWorks SKG, Playtone and Seven Network Australia. It is the main subject of this Wiki. Its first episode premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010. Premise The Pacific is based primarily on the memoirs of two U.S. Marines, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa ''by Eugene Sledge and [[Helmet For My Pillow|''Helmet for My Pillow]] by Robert Leckie. The mini-series follows the experiences of the two authors and Marine John Basilone during the Pacific Theater of World War II. It also draws on Sledge's China Marine and the memoir of Chuck Tatum: Red Blood, Black Sand as a Marine who fought alongside Basilone on Iwo Jima. The miniseries features well-known battles with Japan involving the 1st Marine Division - and briefly the 5th Marine Division - such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, as well as Basilone's involvement in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Hugh Ambrose wrote the official tie-in book to the miniseries, which follows the stories of the three men featured in the mini-series as well as stories of their fellow Marines. It was published in the USA and UK in March 2010. Opening Sequence While the theme "Honor" plays, after the opening titles, we see a piece of paper having a line being drawn upon by a piece of charcoal. Eventually, you see it drawing sketches of marines that evolve into black and white sequences occasionally. This is repeated throughout the sequence until you see a marine carrying a wounded on his back before the screen fades to black and specifies the episode number. Characters The main characters are Sledge (Joseph Mazzello), Leckie (James Badge Dale), and Basilone (Jon Seda). The show is notable for having fewer major characters than its predecessor, Band of Brothers, which had a rather large ensemble cast. This is because the series primarily just focuses on those three characters' points of view. Sledge's Storyline From Sledge's storyline, there are characters such as Cpl. Merriel "Snafu" Shelton (Rami Malek) a cocky Cape Gloucester veteran, Sgt. Romus Valton "R.V" Burgin (Martin McCann) Sledge's Platoon Sergeant, Pfc. Bill Leyden (Brendan Fletcher) and Pfc. Robert Oswalt (Andrew Lees) fellow new recruits, Leyden's a Rifleman in a different Platoon than Sledge's, and Oswalt's in Sledge's squad, but he gets KIA in episode 6. Also from Sledge's storyline are Capt. Andrew "Ack Ack" Haldane (Scott Gibson) their Captain in Peleliu, Lt. Edward "Hillbilly" Jones (Leon Ford) an aid to Haldane, Pfc. Jay De L'Eau (Dylan Young) another Cape Gloucester veteran in Sledges squad, Cpl. Charles "Red" Womack (John Reynolds) a notable figure in the 1st Marine Division but a relatively minor character in the series, and GySgt. Elmo "Gunny" Haney (Gary Sweet) an older Marine, and WWI veteran who commands Sledges Platoon at Peleliu. In Okinawa, Haney's Platoon commander replacement, 2Lt. Robert "Mac" "Scotty" Mackenzie (Ashley Zuckerman), is introduced, as well as new soldiers Pvt. Hamm (Noel Fisher) and Pvt. Tony "Kathy" Peck (Christopher Foy), who are in Sledge's Platoon until both are removed in different ways. Sledge's father, Dr. Edward Sledge Sr. (Conor O' Farrell) makes a couple of appearances as tending to Sledge for his heart murmur. Sledge's mother, Mary Frank Sledge (Linda Cropper), also makes a few appearences. Leckie's Storyline From Leckie's storyline, his main friends are Pfc./Cpl./Pfc. Lew "Chuckler" Juergens (Josh Helman), Pfc. Bill "Hoosier" Smith (Jacob Pitts), and Pfc. Wilbur "Bud" "Runner" Conley (Keith Nobbs), each Machine Gunners in the same squad, all of whom survive the war along with him. Other characters include Pfc. Ronnie "Kid" Gibson (Tom Budge) a Marine in a different Platoon commited to a medical prison, Lt. Hugh "Ivy League" Corrigan (Henry Nixon) Leckie's former Platoon commander, now company commander, PM1. Stern (Simon Bossell) Leckie's platoon corpsman, 2nd Lt. "Spiermint" Stone (Toby Leonard Jones) Leckie's squad commander, Vera Keller (Caroline Dhavernas) Leckie's friend and future wife, and Stella (Claire Van der Boom) who serves as his love interest in Melbourne. Basilone's Storyline From Basilone's storyline, his best friends are Sgt. J.P Morgan (Joshua Biton) and Sgt. Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez (Jon Bernthal), each NCO's in the same Platoon, the latter of the two being Killed in Action on Guadalcanal. Another major character is LtCol./Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller (William Sadler), who commands the Basilones Battalion. Basilone's love interest and eventual wife is Sgt. Lena Mae Riggi Basilone (Anna Parisse) a female marine who he meets during his return to the marines. He also meets Pfc. Clifford "Steve" Evanson (Dwight Braswell) and Pfc. Charles "Chuck" Tatum (Ben Esler) who he makes into a machine gun squad that he commands prior to and in Iwo Jima. Other Characters Pfc. Sidney "Sid" Phillips Jr. (Ashton Holmes) a mortarman who appears both in Sledge's and Leckie's storyline. His changes between the 1st and 5th episodes go from subtle to the point where he has lost his innocence and idealism. He is later seen assuring Sledge's mother that her son will be safe. He then reappears in the final episode where he continually consoles Sledge when the latter starts to suffer from post-traumatic disorder. He is one of the only marines featured in the series to still be alive. Tom Hanks, one the executive producers, acts as the narrator of sequences that serve as a prelude to an episode and a source of information regarding that episode's backdrop in the grand scheme of the developments taking place in the Pacific Theater. Minor characters U.S Army Maj. Edward Sledge Jr. (Joshua Close) Capt. Jameson (Sandy Winton) PM3. Lewis (Brynn Loosemoore) Sgt. Ralph Briggs (Adam Booth) 2Lt. Iseman (Neal Horton) PFC. Cecil Evans (Ian Meadows) PFC. William LaPointe (Samson Parsonson) Pvt. Edward Garland (Mitch Ryan) Cpl. John Powell (Eamon Farren) 2Lt. Lebec (Rohan Nichol) Pfc. "Loudmouth" (Nathan Corddry) Dr. Grant (Matt Craven) "Captain Midnight" (Grant Cartwright) Virginia Grey (Anna Torv) Sgt. Crease (Nathan Lovejoy) Lt. Charles Dunworthy (Brenden Keener) Tom Smee (Nick Tate) Episodes Reception According to Wikipedia, the miniseries currently has an 87% rating on review aggregator Metacritic. It has an 8.8 percent rating on IMDB.com, and a 7.2 percentile rating on TV.com. Trivia *IpProfiles of Leckie, Sledge, Basilone, Phillips, Burgin, Tatum, and Puller have been released. *''The Pacifc'' was released about 9 years after Band of Brothers. External Links Official Website IMDB Page Allmovie Page TV.com Page Category:Sources